Karen Bachman-Carter

Karen Bachman-Carter

Public Health Nutritionist and Diabetes Educator, Indian Health Services

Karen Bachman-Carter (MPH, RD, CDE) is Board Certified in Obesity Management and for the past 38 years, has worked as a public health nutritionist, diabetes educator, obesity treatment and prevention specialist and health administrator.  For 30 of those years, she was a commissioned officer in the United States Public Health Service and had the pleasure of working with American Indian/Alaska Native tribes in Idaho, Arizona, Alaska and New Mexico. With each position, she was drawn to planning, developing and evaluating interventions earlier and earlier in the lifecycle.  Karen started treating adults with diabetes and then moved to school-aged children (implementing a comprehensive school health education curriculum). She now focuses on prenatal/preconception patients to prevent and/or control obesity and diabetes (in addition to seeing patients with obesity and diabetes).  Most of her patients are members of the Navajo Nation, a tribe that has seen a dramatic increase in obesity and diabetes in the last 30 years. Obesity and food insecurity have been constant factors in all of these settings. Thanks to wisdom shared by elders and colleagues, Karen has learned that empowering people with the means and knowledge to control their own health is more effective and lasting than any intervention she could plan.